Madhya Pradesh to include displaced people in rehab panel : India

Bhopal, July 12 - Madhya Pradesh will constitute village level rehabilitation committees to ensure participation of displaced people affected by various dam projects.

'The committees are being constituted to ensure participation of the displaced people in redressing the grievances of those affected by Indira Sagar and Omkareshwar dam projects,' said Uday Kumar Verma, principal secretary, Narmada Valley Development Authority (NVDA).

People affected by the Omkareshwar dam project in about 30 villages have been agitating for the last 37 days in Bhopal, led by Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), an organisation fighting for the rights of the people affected by a series of mega dams on the Narmada river.

The health of two NBA activists - Chittarupa Palit and Bhagwan Mukati - is deteriorating fast, sources said.

The protests, which began in Khandwa June 4 with a rally of over 12,000 oustees of the Indira Sagar and Omkareshwar dams, was shifted to Bhopal June 29 with people deciding not to return to their villages until their demands were met.

The Indira Sagar is among the 31 big dams planned or being built as part of the $7.7 billion Sardar Sarovar project to tap the waters of the Narmada.

The Narmada Valley Development Plan envisages 31 large, 135 medium and 3,000 small dams on the river.

The NBA alleges that the state government's land-for-land rehabilitation policy in 1999 for dam oustees of the Narmada project is not being followed.

The dam-affected people are demanding land-based rehabilitation of landless families and adult sons and unmarried adult daughters of affected families as well as the provision of employment guarantee schemes among other basic services like drinking water at rehabilitation sites.

On May 18, the Madhya Pradesh High Court passed an order saying that the gates of the Omkareshwar dam should not be closed until all the villagers were rehabilitated with agricultural land.

'However, Madhya Pradesh and the Narmada Hydro Development Corp (NHDC) allegedly filed false special leave petitions and on June 11, the decision of the high court was stayed by the Supreme Court. Immediately after the apex court order, the state government started severing electricity and water connections in several villages,' alleges NBA activist Alok Agarwal.

Verma, on the other hand, denies NBA claims saying that grievance redressal camps are being organised in both the project areas to solve the problems of the affected people.

He also says their involvement in the village level rehabilitation advisory committees will help make the whole process transparent.

The rehabilitation committee, he said, would advise about the inclusion of missing names in the list, allotment of plots at rehabilitation sites, interchange of allotted plots, selection of new sites for relocation of religious places in submergence areas and other related issues.

Verma also claimed that contingency plans have been prepared to assist the affected families of the Sardar Sarover, Indira Sagar and Omkareshwar project reservoirs in emergency situations.

The plan, according to Verma, is aimed at providing safety, transport facilities, temporary shelters and other basic facilities to the needy families. Besides, a grievance redressal authority (GRA) has been constituted for judicious disposal of the grievances of the affected families.